Dramatic Buzzer Beater Lifts Franklin To TOC Title

In the biggest game of her young career, freshman Kennedy Schenck connected on a buzzer beater to capture Franklin’s first ever TOC title. It was yet another moment this season where one of Franklin’s rising stars came up clutch when it counted the most.

Diamond Miller was another big reason Franklin was able to rebound from an early deficit against Manasquan. She was furious in the post and defended exceptionally well to give her team multiple possessions as the game winded down. Miller also had a game-high 18 points as she replicated another strong performance on the big stage in a 50-48 victory over Manasquan.

It was yet another situation where the Warriors had to take it “one moment at a time”, which describes the progression of a young team throughout the season. For Schenck, it was one of the toughest moments any young basketball player has to face. “I knew that I had to make a decision at that point. I knew that I had to either pass or shoot. I decided to shoot and it went in,” Schenck explained.

For Coach Audrey Taylor, the moment of finally winning a TOC Championship is something that she can finally enjoy with her team. “This moment has been well worth waiting for,” Coach Taylor explained.

“One reason why this journey has been so amazing is because of how young these girls are. We went through a lot to realize that we are a very strong team when we play together. Once we realized that we could go on this run, great things happened,” Coach Taylor added.

All season long, Franklin showed that they would battle until the final buzzer. What made tonight’s buzzer beater so impressive was the battle that they had to fight through just to get to the fourth quarter.

In the first, Manasquan used their speed and aggressiveness to mount a 17-7 lead. However, Franklin was able to go on a run of their own which they would eventually tie the game at 19 in the second. From there, the game would go back and forth until Franklin was able to take the lead in the third. Senior Monique Davis-Campbell provided that leadership needed to convert big baskets throughout the game and she was able to do it in the second half to give her team the lead.

“When we make shots things tend to go our way,” Miller said when explaining the first to second quarter turnaround.

From there the game would go back until Franklin was able to take the lead in the third quarter. Senior Monique Davis- Campbell provided that leadership needed to convert big baskets throughout the game and she was able to do it in that third quarter to give her team the lead.

“Honestly, right now, I am speechless,” Davis-Campbell said. I knew that we worked hard to get to this point and that this was something that we wanted. I knew that we just had to put our minds to it in order to get the win and we did.”

The fourth quarter continued to go back and forth with Stella Clark accounting for much of Manasquan’s scoring. Manasquan led the game with a few minutes remaining before Franklin took a 48-46 lead in the game. Faith Masonius was able to tie the game for the Warriors with a nice inside move. However, the game would end on the next possession and the Franklin Warriors would be crowned TOC Champs.

Photo: Jim Rosa

Once again, Coach Taylor described the season saying ” This group is a family. A lot of coaches will understand when you have a family, it makes your coaching job a lot easier,” Coach Taylor added.

“They put in a lot of work and to get to this point is awesome,” Taylor added.

With all but one senior returning, coach Taylor explained how they will prepare for next season. “I know we will once again have a great group coming in and we are going to go out and battle,” Coach Taylor explained.